One of Belize’s most productive and exemplary citizens, Horace Walwin Young, CBE, QC, father of Michael Young, SC, attorney-at-law, passed away Sunday morning, April 18, at around 7:30 Miami time, 5:30 Belize time, after suffering heart failure. He was 87 years old.
He was a man who believed that “young fathers should respect the institution of marriage, and that there should be only one father and a mother who will be role models for the child.”
Born in Belize City on July 5, 1922, Horace Young received his secondary school training at St. George’s College (renamed Wesley College). He then took up clerical appointments before pursuing law studies in the United Kingdom.
According to a short bio published by the Belize National Library Service, which he formerly chaired, Young served in his early years as Crown Counsel, Solicitor General, an attachment to the Colonial Office, and also the Governor’s nominee to the Washington Conference to discuss the Guatemalan claim to Belize (The 17 Proposals).
After leaving the government service, he went into private practice, which he did for 32 years. While in private practice, this distinguished gentleman ascended to the Legislative Assembly in Belize (1961-1965), and served also as chair of the Belize Advisory Council, national president of the Belize chapter of the World Jurist Association, and judge advocate in the Belize Defence Force courts-martial. In the 1990s he occupied offices of Supreme Court Judge and Justice of the Appeals Court. He had also served as president of the Belize Bar Association.
He was decorated as Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979, and later appointed as a Queen’s Counsel. He also served as vice president of the Scouts Council and president of the Belize Football League.
Horace Young is survived by his wife, formerly Norma Dorothy Louise Grant, and his children: Kathleen, Horace, Jr., Laverne, Michael, Cislyn, Sandra, and Nigel. (Except for Michael Young, all his children live in the USA.) He is also survived by 15 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.
Michael Young reminisced that his father loved to dance and give extemporaneous speeches, especially at weddings. “He was a man of tremendous humor,” he recollects. “Even at an advanced age, he loved to eat. He loved the cayes and used to spend a lot of time at the cayes.”
His other passions included athletics – particularly long distance running and swimming, and jumping, which his son said he was very good at. He was an accomplished piano player and member of the Junior Swingers Band. He was an avid reader, especially of Shakespeare, and loved to act Shakespearean plays.
Horace Young also enjoyed fishing: He claimed the record when he caught a 38-pound barracuda.
He embraced advocacy and handled a lot of criminal cases; most noted among them was a case involving the murder of a Catholic priest in Belize, which Young said occurred at least 45 years ago.
Michael Young said that his father lived a very healthy life and he cannot remember him ever being sick in his younger days. He succumbed to weakening health as a consequence of old age, said his son.
Mr. Horace Young is scheduled to be buried in Miami after a service for his most immediate family on Saturday, April 24. However, relatives also plan to host a memorial service for him in Belize, at a date and venue to be announced.
We quote from his bio: “Mr. Young contributed to his children’s success by taking patterns from his own father, who had ten children, nine boys and one girl, and a faithful wife. His father was respected by the entire community and he taught them honesty, integrity, respect, and to love [Yah], also that a family that prays together stays together. Mr. Young has applied this training to his lifestyle and in his home.”